Varietas
by Some Random Weird Guy
Summary: Differences hold great power. This power is illustrated through Negi Springfield, who was born six years earlier, and is bent on revenge towards demons everywhere. But most importantly towards his own father, who failed to save the last few people Negi considered family. Darker!Mature!Negi NegiHarem
1. I: Black Winter Night

**AN: This is a prologue chapter, so it features almost none of what is stated in the summary.**

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_**Varietas**_

_**Chapter I: Black Winter Night**_

The roar of flames could be heard for kilometers around, and the great light which it produced illuminated the mountains, as the small village it encompassed slowly burned. Screams emanated from the village, many of which were cut short. Deep rumblings and inhuman shouts followed the shrieks, further disrupting the mountains in which the village was nestled. A flash of lightning brought the face of a confused boy into the eye of the world for but a few brief seconds, but it was quickly lost in the darkness.

He had been gone for merely a half an hour, trying to experience the lands surrounding his home once more after his long absence. His eyes roamed over the great storm of fire as rain began to fall, which did nothing to impede the flames' progress. His mind was whirling, _'How could this have happened? Is everyone all right? What are all these sounds?' _Of all these, the thought that truly shook him to his core was, _'Is _Nekane _all right?'_

If she wasn't, what would he do? She was almost all of the family he had.

His face became downcast and he looked to the ground, before he noticed something sticking out of his pocket. _'My wand...' _It was a diminutive stick with a star-shaped block at its head. It was pathetic

He withdrew his wand from his left pocket. It felt like a mere twig in his hand, and with what meager training he possessed, it wasn't much more dangerous that one. He looked at his wand, and then to the maelstrom of fire that was his home. _'Who'll help them? __The Thousand Master?' _He scoffed in spite of himself. Maybe he wasn't experienced, maybe he wasn't a legendary wizard, maybe he really wouldn't be able to help, but maybe Nekane was dying. And despite his terror, he latched on to that thought. He wasn't the Thousand Master, but he did have a wand and a small repertoire of skills.

_"If you were ever in any _real _danger, I'm sure you'd faint on the spot!" _His friend's childish voice pierced his thoughts. Today he would prove her wrong.

Concentrating on the thought of Nekane and the others, he gritted his teeth, tightened his grip on his pathetic wand, and charged down into his village, fear and hope strengthening what resolve he could muster.

If he was going to die today, then he wanted to see his family one last time.

‡

Other than the roaring flames, the town was quiet and still. For a moment he entertained the thought that perhaps an elaborate trick was being played on him. That the flames and screams were simple charms to mess with him a bit.

And then he saw them.

The bodies of old friends and neighbors lay all through the streets. But they were not ripped to shreds or burned, he couldn't see their insides spilling out of their stomachs, none of what he had feared was what he saw.

They were frozen.

Frozen in frantic positions, with fear and pain etched onto their once cheerful faces. Most clutched weapons. If he had not known any better he would have thought that they were masterfully crafted statues, but he did know better. _'Petrification? What the hell is going on?' _He mentally flew through what he knew of this brand of magic: it was exceedingly difficult to perform, it could have ill effects on the user, it was irreversible.

It was permanent.

He had to find his sister.

He heard a loud thud behind him, and, silently praying it was simply the falling of rubble, turned around slowly.

Staring back at him was the skull-like visage of a demon, a demon which bore two powerfully muscled wings on its back and a set of cruel horns on the top of its head.

He had only even _read_ about these beings in his textbooks! They weren't supposed to be wandering around and pillaging small villages like his, they were supposed to be somewhere else, anywhere else! The demon turned its gaze upwards to him, and gazed into his soul with its glowing scarlet orbs, before opening its mouth and emitting a great roar. His heart nearly stopped at the sound, and then some great deity decided that this one monstrous being was simply not enough.

He then heard answering roars all around him, in various pitches, each more terrifying than the last. He looked at his surroundings, they were everywhere! Some of them were small, some almost the size of the burning buildings. He regained his senses as quickly as he could, and tore down the streets, his fearful mind hardly registering the statues that were once people and the rubble that used to be the "statues". He had to find his sister.

_"_Nekane! Where are you?" He shouted desperately, only to be answered by a feminine scream coming from somewhere in the eastern side of the village. He looked behind him, and saw the demons once again, although there were less, because some of them were probably too slow to follow him. He took a right and ran towards the direction in which he heard his sister's scream, only to see a great monster that would haunt his dreams for years to come. It was roughly human sized, and flew in the air with powerful wings. On the crown of its skull-like head were a pair of horns, which looked as if they belonged on a ram of some kind. Its body looked as if it wore a great suit of armor, though it was clearly its actual skin. Its face was menacing, a pair of luminescent yellow eyes amid great black pits directed at something laying before it.

_'Sister!' _She was sprawled out on the rubble, her flowing blonde hair spread around her. She seemed relatively unhurt.. until he looked closer. Her lower body was an ashen gray. _'She's petrifying!'_ The demon lifted its gaze to him, before opening its mouth and letting out a deep laugh-like rumble.

Clenching his teeth and quickly wracking his brain for something suitable, he raised his wand to the demon and began to chant as quickly as his body would allow, "Rastel Maskil Magister," Great waves of light began emanating off of his arm as he recited his initiation phrase, "Sagita Magica Duodecim Sagittae Lucis!"

As he yelled the last words, light gathered around the tip of his wand, coalescing into twelve arrows of light that shot towards the demon at frightening speeds. The arrows embedded themselves into varying parts of the demon's body, flinging it back several meters.

Hoping that it was dealt with, he rushed to the fallen form of his sister. He kneeled next to her, dropping his wand at his side, "Nekane, are you all right?" He felt obliged to say this, and even though he dearly wished it to be true, he knew that it wasn't.

She turned towards him and smiled weakly, "Not really." She coughed, but instead of saliva or blood, dust escaped her mouth. He looked at the rest of her body, and his eyes widened. From her neck downwards, she, and her clothes, were completely gray. He picked her up and she weighed down upon his arms greatly. Far more than a human normally should

"You'll be a great mage, right Negi?" She questioned before coughing up more dust. "You'll be able to fix this won't you?"

He looked down to her, tears welling up in his eyes, as he held her in his arms, "Of course I will. You won't stay like this, I'll save you." He hugged her tightly

"Then don't cry Negi, we'll meet again." Nekane Springfield smiled up at him one last time.

Her formerly blue eyes were now gray, and were still locked with his own. But all life was gone from them. She was petrified. A statue. She would never again to smile at anyone, never again smile at _him._

Negi Springfield, brother of Nekane Springfield, began to cry, the droplets stinging his eyes and wetting the stone figure he cradled in his arms. The rain began to pelt downwards even harder. He had _just_ come home, after months of not seeing her, and now he would never be able to talk to her again. "This isn't fair..." He choked to himself miserably, he was only ten years old, he needed her.

He gently laid his sister onto the ground as he wiped the tears from his eyes. Trying to steel himself, he grabbed for his wand, and shakily set it in his pocket.

"**Life isn't fair kid,**" A deep voice ground out. He looked to where the noise came from, and saw a demon, the demon that he had hoped he had defeated. It looked into his eyes, before it began to laugh at him once again. "**Don't worry kid, you'll be joining her soon enough!**" It opened its mouth and light began gathering within it, only to be interrupted by a wizened old voice.

"O Six-Pointed Star and Path of Shadows..."

He looked to the source of voice, and saw the robed form of an old, bearded man, a man who had been like a grandfather to him, _'Stan!'_ He thought in awe.

"Put a Seal upon this Spirit of Evil," He continued chanting his magic laced words, "Demon-Sealing Bottle!" With his last powerful words, he threw the bottle that he had been holding in his hand at the demon, where a glowing hexagram formed. The demon roared and its knees buckled, bringing it to the floor. The demon's body quickly became a black gas that hung in the air, and was sucked into the small bottle, its roars ceasing abruptly and the bottle falling gently to the ground.

Negi looked to his "grandfather" and smiled.

And then he noticed that Stan's body was rapidly turning to stone. "Stan!" He cried helplessly.

Stan turned to him and smiled slightly, "It's too late for us Negi, you've got to get out of here," The pipe he held in his mouth wobbled as he talked, and was blown out of his mouth when he began to cough up the dust that had taken the place of his blood. "The demons that were summoned to raze the village were too strong, and too numerous for us. We couldn't defend ourselves. That ugly one was petrifying us one after another. Your uncle was one of the first." Stan frowned momentarily, but his expression quickly changed and he gripped Negi's shoulder tightly, "You can escape. You've got to leave here, you're the last of us left." he hacked up several specks of dust, before smiling and saying one last set of words, "Make us proud Negi!" The last vestiges of his consciousness left, as he became one of the many statues standing watch throughout what used to be a village.

Tears flowed freely from Negi's eyes as he fell to the floor, the last of his mismatched family gone. _'Why?' _He questioned within his head. Negi rubbed at his eyes, trying to rid himself of his weakness, before looking up. Demons encroached upon him from all sides. They lumbered to him slowly, as he was no threat to them. He could do nothing but question his fate _'Why me? Why is everyone gone?'_

A crack of thunder was his answer, as lightning tore through the black night sky to the demons. They were instantly obliterated, nothing but stray patches of dust remaining where they once towered. Negi's gaze tore upwards, only to witness a man floating down from the heavens with an aged staff at his back.

The man wore a robe of a light shade of brown, and was turned away from him, facing the demons that were now rapidly advancing. His hair was much like Negi's own, nearly shoulder length, with the upper layers being red, with the lower layers being much darker. Negi's eyes widened as he realized who this man had to be.

"Negi. Stand back," Said the man calmly.

Negi obliged, and watched what proceeded. The robed man pointed his right arm towards an oncoming group of demons and, without a single chant, let loose a bolt of lightning, spearing a group of demons through their chest, and causing some of the weaker ones to simply disintegrate. He then raised the gnarled staff that he now held in his left hand towards the sky, and a great shaft of lightning tore downwards, a crowd of monsters vaporizing within seconds. Several more bolts descended, following the first in action, and slaying scores of the fiends, and throwing up great clouds of dust.

As the dust cleared, Negi saw the man holding a winged demon by its throat. The demon croaked out a few words, "**At this level of power... It's hard to tell which of us is the monster**," It didn't have the chance to speak more, for the hand that was holding it up twisted, snapping the beast's neck. The man once again raised his staff, causing several more lightning bolts to rain down from the heavens.

What few demons survived were of now threat.

The man turned to Negi.

"I'm sorry," he stated solemnly, his eyes downcast, "My coming was too late,"

Negi turned towards the man, his voice soft, "The hero always arrives in the nick of time," he said, remembering stories his sister had told him as a child. His eyes became angry, and his voice rose "But what about Nekane's nick of time?"

The man recoiled, clearly not expecting such a response.

"Or uncle's? Or Stan's? Or anyone in this whole village? Where were you when _they _needed you?" Negi stood up, his shoulders quivering in both rage and sadness, "Everyone who isn't dead is petrified! All because you were too busy making yourself even more famous!" He reigned his anger in to a controllable level, "Father," He ended scornfully, punctuating his short rant.

"It could not be helped Negi..." He replied, a tone of pleading in his voice.

"Nekane and Stan are petrified! There isn't a cure for that!" He yelled, tears stinging his eyes once again, as his anger quickly returned "Or did you forget? Has the fame gone to your head? The only family who ever cared about me is all but dead!"

"I'm sorry," He said, "I'm sorry, that I have been unavailable for the first ten years of your life..." His father bowed his head, "I know that I have no true right to say this…" His voice became soft, "But, grow up well, my son," He finished sadly. The man looked to his staff, and then back to his son before closing his eyes. He began ascending towards the sky, appearing much like an angel.

An angel that came too late.

"I will grow up father!" Negi shouted in response, "I'll be someone who can be there in a time of need! I will _succeed _you Nagi Springfield!" He screamed towards his father and the heavens.

The robed form of his father disappeared in a flash of lightning and a roar of thunder.

And then Negi Springfield was alone.

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**AN: As stated in the summary, this will be a Dark! Negi fanfiction, and will contain a NegiHarem pairing, which will be quite large.**

**As of 9-12-09 I have slightly revised this chapter. I fixed a few parts I didn't like, and overall attempted to make it a bit better.**

**I shall be giving the same treatment to the other chapters so stay tuned!**

**Any questions, criticisms, and/or suggestions? Feel free to ask, criticise, and/or suggest!**

**ATTENTION: Please skip to the second chapter two "Power of the Mind" to continue the rewritten version of Varietas. Chapters two ("Delay") and three ("Youth of the Nation") are no longer valid to the storyline, and are only being kept on the site so as to not mess with the reviews.**


	2. Retconned

**MOVE RIGHT ALONG NOTHING TO SEE HERE**


	3. Noncanon

**MOVE RIGHT ALONG NOTHING TO SEE HERE**


	4. II: Power of the Mind

**AN: At long last, here is the next chapter of the Varietas rewrite. This chapter takes place two to three years after chapter I.**

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_**Varietas**_

_**Chapter II: Power of the Mind, A Show of Strength**_

With a mere flick of his wrist, three of them were beheaded.

Another flick, two more died of suffocation.

A point of his index finger, and the survivor was a pincushion.

He appraised the corpses, quite content with his work. He rubbed his hands together, ridding them of the nonexistent dust that had accumulated. Raising one hand at the bodies, he summoned an inconsequential fraction of his power, and let it flow through the tattoos adorning his arm. A black pool resembling thick tar materialized, engulfing the corpses. He snapped his fingers, and the pool, along with the bodies, was gone. Should anyone enter the room, there would be no sign of combat (however short it was).

Negi Springfield, now far taller, straightened his robe, and looked around his room, checking for anything he may have missed. Seeing that all was well, he left the room which he had rented for the previous night, closing the door behind himself quietly. He quickly made his way down the hallway, so as to not disturb the residents of other rooms. He entered the lobby of the motel, scanning the room for any suspicious movement. Seeing none, he walked to the front desk, and dropped his keys on it. A young man was at the desk, face down on the counter, asleep. He'd find the keys when he woke up.

Negi continued his way out of the inn, this time slamming the door to wake the clerk. He looked back to the building. It was an inn that he had used countless times in the past few months, typically only a night at a time. The owner never asked questions, definitely a plus. Especially with his most recent jobs being in the general region of this homely village (Rigora, Russia). He turned back around, eyeing his surroundings. Nothing but a thick layer of snow that covered just about everything.

Perfect.

He walked away from the inn, making a path to the edge of town. They would not dare attack him again within Rigora, it wasn't their element. Where precisely their element was located, was the question. Though he supposed that it didn't really matter. Either they'd find him, or he'd find them. The result would be the same no matter the situation. They would die.

His trek was quiet and quick, for although it was unlikely that many would be awake at such an early hour, the chance was still there, and he did not want to attract their attention. He quickly made it to the outskirts of the village, and continued until the village could no longer be seen if he turned. Raising his right arm to the sky, he summoned more of his power, the sleeve falling down his arm as he did so, further revealing the intricate tattoos that adorned his arm. The magic was a torrent of darkness flowing through the markings, and coalescing at his palm. When he felt that he had gathered enough to attract his targets, he forced all that which he had summoned into a opaque, black sphere, little larger than his own fist.

He crushed the sphere.

Enough magic to demolish a building was sent into the sky. To the mundane eye it was as if a malicious aurora had been fired from the ground. To the eye of a wizard or demon, it was a show of strength, a taunt.

Now they knew a challenger approached.

Negi continued his walk.

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It was not for several hours that Negi was disturbed, and even then, it was but a simple bird call. Like that of a raven or crow. He knew his targets neared.

He suspected that they would not keep to the air, as that was an easier target for a spell, and as such, they would surround him and slowly encroach on him. No doubt, they'd use the dense forest as a defense.

Negi took to leaning against a tree and pondering battle strategies to pass the time.

At least until an arrow struck the tree, inches from his head causing a bit of snow to fall from the tree's branches. Negi liquefied the snow using his magic, and rapidly solidified it into ice within the span of a second. In less than a second, the ice formed into several needles. With practiced ease he sent the needles flying into the direction from which the arrow had been released.

A cry of pain was the response to his attack.

This evidently stunned the others that stood in wait, as no counter attack was launched.

The black pool which he had used earlier that day rematerialized at his command, and this time, it took the surrounding trees with it when it returned to its plane of existence. Negi preferred to see his foes, and now he could.

They were all demons, Crow Tribe to be specific. They were all humanoid, but they possessed a beak, which acted as both an upper jaw and a nose. Their bottom jaws were quite long, and razor-like teeth were also clearly visible. Wings of coarse pitch black feathers sprouted from their backs, and were used as make-shift robes. Almost all towered above Negi, their heights starting at two meters, and only ascending. Their weapons were mostly large swords, but others were bowmen. There looked to be an absence of magic-users.

No problem.

**"**Varietas Vox: Atrum Flatus." Darkness surged through his right arm, rocketed forward and impaled one of the demons. It had more than likely not have even seen it coming before its death.

The others sprang into action, charging towards him, or firing arrows at him, depending on their specializations.

Negi held both arms in opposite directions, **"**Contego Glacies.**" **Much of the snow surrounding him hardened into a thick ice. The ice then raised itself to his own height, forming a dome-like barrier around him. He could see the forms of his enemies through the ice, not that he really needed to. Without incantations, the ice shattered into countless needles, and Negi sent them flying in all directions. This did not succeed in killing any of his foes due to the forms of armor many wore. But it did however succeed in making their armor pincushions. Just as he had planned.

He charged his nearest foe, ignoring the battle cries, and, dodging a skillful slice in the process, grabbed it by its collar. Its eyes darted back and forth in fear, he had seen this many times, he had grown to ignore these reactions. Negi let his magic leak into the needles which pierced its animal skin armor, and turned and threw him into another enemy.

When they collided he ignited the magic stored within the needles, causing them to explode. Both Crows were killed instantly, and some of their body parts littered the snow, staining it red. The rest appeared shocked (their attacks were stalled), not that it was easily inferred from their faces, as they were rather grotesque distortions of the human visage.

Taking advantage of their pauses, Negi prepared another spell, **"**Praefoco Gelu**," **He said, gesturing to one of the distant archers.

The snow surrounding it rapidly became ice and quickly shot up from the ground, wrapping around the neck of the demon, as if it were vines. The ice lifted the Crow off its feet, simultaneously strangling and hanging it.

This, of course, brought the attention of the others back onto him. A group of them approached at breakneck speeds, obviously aiming to cut him down. They would fail.

As they neared, he stomped the ground with one leg, **"**Gelidus Labefactum,**"** He said, stating it in the monotone that was his battle persona. Spikes of ice erupted from the ground beneath the feet of the oncoming demons, impaling them all. The snow was now thoroughly dyed red.

Three remained.

The surviving archer took to the skies in an attempt to escape, but, Negi would not let it be so. He raised his left hand to the fleeing demon, and pointed at it using his index and middle fingers. "Sagita Magica Una Umbra." For a short second, waves of dark magic oozed off of his arm, for the following second, it gathered at his fingertips, and in the final second a thin ray of shadow fired from his hand. It pierced the demon through its chest, no doubt killing it. If it had survived, it would not live through its plummet to the ground.

Two left.

They would definitely not try and turn their backs to him now.

These two had hung back during the whole fight, and had an air of importance about them. One looked to the other, and appeared to say something in whatever vulgar language it was that the Crows used. This one wore a better quality suit of armor than the others had, although it still appeared rather tribal, with war paint and such decorating it. It hefted a large axe, the pole of which was nearly Negi's size. Entering a battle stance, it turned to him, battle axe in both hands, and charged forward.

His instincts kicking in, Negi suddenly ducked, and saw the axe swing over his head where his chest had been a second before. But the damn monster had just been in front of him! Negi quickly recovered from his shock, and turned, firing a barrage of ice needles at the Crow's head. The demon was suddenly a meter to the right of where the needles would have hit. _'What the hell is it doing!' _Negi had never seen anything move like this. It could be problematic.

The demon moved forward a single step, and then it was gone. Negi jumped to the side as quickly as he could, and, as he expected, the axe carved a downward arc to where he had just been standing. Negi couldn't keep this up, he needed to take it out as quickly as possible. He couldn't waste time with small spells. Negi positioned his arms parallel to the ground, and gathered a fair amount of magical energy, "Atrum Rudo!" He yelled, before slamming his hands together. The slam created a shockwave, causing shadows to burst from his hands and shoot in all directions.

Much of the light was filtered out by the blanket of shadows, and most of the snow had been blown away. The armored Crow was hit head on, and its axe had been flung backwards by the blast. The demon remained standing, its armor taking the force of the blast. Its hand moved to its side and, from the sheathe that lay there, drew a short sword. The blade was rather small, and the hilt bore no crossguard, unlike most swords he had seen. The demon once again charged and was in front of him in less than a second. Negi slightly avoided a horizontal slash. Slightly, in that it still cut his side (drawing blood), but avoided in that he was not cut in half.

Using a telekinetic spell that he had long ago mastered, Negi gestured to the snow which had been blasted away, and reined it back to its original location. The Crow stood silently from where it last attacked and watched the snow return. '_Mitis Estus_,' Negi thought, for it was a weak enough spell that verbal incantations were unnecessary. The snow which he had summoned melted nigh instantly, making it much easier to manipulate. The demon must have realized this, because it quickly attempted one of its charges, ankle deep in water. When it initiated its instant movement, Negi rolled from his location, and immediately began another spell.

"Ieiunium Glacies!" His opponent attempted another move in order to escape the spell, but it was rooted in place. The spell which Negi used was not a projectile spell, it caused no instant damage, and thus it could not be dodged. It froze the water where the Crow stood, the very water that its feet were submerged in. The demon struggled to move, but to no avail. It then attempted to cut away at it using its sword, but that too failed. Negi slowly and deliberately walked to the rooted Crow. It saw this, and doubled its frantic escape attempts.

Negi was a far enough distance from it that it could not hit him, but close enough that he could do what he wanted. Namely, use his telekinesis spell once again. Using his magic, he grasped the water, and drenched the writhing Crow in it. It was now thoroughly soaked, and to its terror, the ice at its ankles encroached slowly upwards. The demon let out a scream and continued to thrash around, until of course, it was completely frozen.

To the mundane eye, it was but a statue.

Quite a magnificent one at that.

Every ounce of fear was captured, its wide eyes, its flailing limbs, and its gaping beak, which was still locked in its scream. Negi was quite satisfied with his work, but to be _perfectly_ sure that it would not come back for a round two, he channeled a bit of magic into his hand. He then balled it into a fist and struck the frozen demon in its chest, releasing the magic when it made contact.

It exploded, sending bits of ice flying in the direction of which the punch was directed.

One left.

Negi dusted off his knuckles and turned to the final demon, who had not moved, stood. The surviving demon removed its wings from their robe-like position, revealing a suit of chain mail armor. The armor would not take as much punishment as that of the previous Crow, but it did appear to be much more "important" looking. This one was no doubt the leader of the, now dead, Crow clan which he had been commissioned to dispose of.

He felt that it deserved at least a few words, after all, it was the survivor (though not for long), "If you had intervened, maybe your little band of demons wouldn't be dead." Negi paused, "Maybe."

The Crow looked to him, "**My clan will be avenged**," Its voice was powerful, but Negi did not worry, it was a simple Crow demon, clan leader or not. The demon raised its right arm in his direction. A malevolent light shone at its gloved palm for but a few seconds. The glowing stopped, but then it forcefully clenched its hand into a fist. Negi's eyes widened and he dove to the side, forming a weak barrier of ice as he did so.

There was a loud roar, and then his barrier was completely shattered. Negi saw a large scarlet beam of energy miss him by less than a meter. The sheer force of it had destroyed his barrier, and it had not even been hit! Negi focused his magic energy, and fired it in a wide radius at where the Crow had been. The dark magic covered at least three times as much ground as the demon's beam had.

Negi heard a sound from behind him and he quickly attempted to jump away, but then he felt a harsh pain in his side, and he looked down. The end of a sword protruded from his right side, and blood coated the blade. The blade slid out, and Negi turned around, gasping for breath. The demon stood behind him, its sword, a cutlass, in hand. It too, was a practitioner of the "instant movement" that he was growing to hate. He slammed his palms together, fingers facing upwards, and released as much magic as he was able at the moment. The explosion of energy sent the demon flying, but it was largely unharmed. Its weapon however was lost.

"Contego Glacies," Negi said, causing a dome like barrier of ice to surround himself, this one much stronger than the incantation-less version he had used seconds before. If he wished to fight in the fullest capacity that he could, he would have to take care of his injury. He held his hand to the wound, "Cura." Magic of a pale purple color oozed from his hand and sank into the stab wound. He could feel the wound sealing (on both sides), and he then felt less pain, but he knew it was not perfectly healed. His specialty was not healing magic.

Negi locked onto his enemy, and shattered the ice, forming hundreds of needles from the shards, levitating around him in the form of the barrier. He fired a generous amount of them at the demon, and then it was gone. He sent all the needles that encompassed him in their respective directions, for he was sure that it would reappear behind him.

Then it was face to face to him, a handful of needles embedded into its chainmail.

The demon picked him up by his neck, and opened its mouth. A reddish light grew at the back of its mouth, and Negi struggled frantically to get loose, but the Crow's grip was strong. The red light quickly became a strong glow, and then he was hit with a powerful blast.

The force of it sent him flying several meters backwards, and he slammed into the ground. His upper body, where most of the blast had hit, ached, and he was slightly dazed. Negi grimaced, and brought himself to his feet. The Crow leader was obviously unskilled in its spell casting, because had it been a master, he would've been severely injured or dead.

The demon was focused on him from its position, where it had fired its attack, and Negi met its eyes. Negi focused a large amount of magic into both hands, and held them out before himself, fingers curled slightly. "Sagita Magica Duodecim Umbra Glacies!" He shouted, the magic forming twelve arrows, six of ice, six of shadow, all of which went straight for his opponent. The arrows left streams of their element in their wakes, and just before they would have pierced the Crow, it vanished.

Negi turned around, and formed a fist, thrusting it forward as the monster phased into existence behind him. The punch, which normally would have only caused it to flinch, sent it on its back due to the magic he had enforced it with. Negi pointed his palm at it, and let off a small incantation-less blast of magic. In response it moved instantly once again, but this time, it did not appear behind him.

It was across the small clearing which he had created, and it seemed to be forming another attack, one that would no doubt be much more powerful than its previous blasts. A shroud of red covered its body, and was slowly drawn into its mouth.

Negi would meet it head on with a blast of his own.

He expended as much magical energy as his body would currently allow, blowing what snow remained around him away, and split it, half going in his right hand, half in his left. "Phasmatis Glacies," His right arm was blanketed in ice, "Everto Umbra, " His left was encased in a dark inky substance, "Efflectum Meus Hostilis!" From his right hand a massive amount of icy mist flowed out, and from his left, a blanket of shadow. The mist covered the shadow, and then became solid, looking very much like glass. Then it rapidly shrunk.

His spell took the form of a small of a small marble, and Negi picked it out of the air, and held it between his middle finger and thumb.

The enemy's spell took the form of a massive, unstable orb of demonic magic. As if on some unspoken cue, both provided the finishing touches on their spells. The Crow leader let out a ferocious roar, and Negi crushed the marble between his fingers, "Mori!"

A mass of red and black energy, met a mass of ice and shadow, and a great roar, almost like that of a hurricane, filled the area in which they stood. The two spells seemed to melt into each other. For a second, there was peace.

Negi's eyes met those of the demon. And then there was a mighty explosion.

‡

_"-o Ne-"_

_"Yo Neg-"_

_"Yo Negi!"_

His eyes slowly opened, and the first sight that became apparent was that of a small furred animal resting upon his chest. An ermine to be exact. This particular ermine was about twice as long as his hand and covered in soft white fur. It looked at him, and then opened its mouth , "I had gone back to our room, but you were already gone!" Its raspy and pompous voice betrayed its small size and innocent look, " I ended up having to go and look for you." It laughed loudly, "Of course, it wasn't all that hard, all I had to do was follow the huge explosion."

Negi sat up, knocking the ermine off of his chest and into his lap. "How long have I been out Chamo?" He asked, identifying the ermine and dusting the snow from his robe.

"I'd say a good twenty minutes, half hour. It took me about ten minutes to get here after the explosion, and another ten or so to wake you up!" Chamo briskly looked over the battlefield: the corpses of the Crows littered it, looking very much like the misplaced playthings of a child. "Mission success eh?" A grin was on the ermine's face.

He picked up the furred creature by the scruff of his neck, and quickly stood up, placing Chamo on his shoulder, "Well that depends," Negi said, his eyes too browsing his battlefield, "Was there another body a good ten or so meters in front of me when you got here?" His voice was curious despite his solemn tone.

The ermine shook its head, "Nope, looks like one's gotten away from you!"

Negi's eyes narrowed at the spot where the Crow had last stood. It had survived, and yet it had let him live. Why was that? Were their positions switched, the demon would lay dead in the snow.

He raised a hand, "Adeo Mihi." The corpses of the demons which he had killed were pulled to his location, and lay on the snow at his feet. He held the same hand over them, and, channeling a bit of magic, the black pool which he had utilized twice that day reappeared. He made sure they all lay within the pool, and snapped his fingers. They and the pool were gone.

"Well you should still get most of the pay, only one of them got away," Chamo said, hoping to cheer Negi up a bit. Of course, he knew it would futile.

Negi nodded, uncaring, "Yeah..." He pulled the hood of his dark robe on, "We're going back to Rigora for now." He would seek more thorough treatment of his wound, receive his pay, and continue his reign of controlled destruction.

Never again would Negi Springfield let a demon escape his grasp.

‡

**AN: I am extremely sorry for the huge amount of time that it took me to write this. I am even sorrier that I did not continue with the plot. I wanted to use this as a way to both practice my action scene writing, and to practice writing my new Negi. As I said in the deleted author's note chapter, I will be rewriting chapters one and two. And by rewrite, I mean a rewrite, I have changed Negi's personality so that he is colder, darker, and more apathetic. He is too much of a hothead in the chapters I have written previously (2 and 3).**

**By chance, does anyone reading this happen to be an amazing artist? Because it'd be swell if I could request some art to be made for this.**

**Any feedback is welcome. Constructive criticism/praise is greatly appreciated.**


	5. III: Type C

**AN: Thanks to my beta Anzer'ke for looking through this and fixing any mistakes.**

_**Varietas**_

_**Chapter III: Type C**_

"_How is teaching at an all-girls school going to help him become a better mage? That doesn't even have an ostensible reason!" Anya shouted, stomping her foot on the elegant flooring of Meridiana Academy, "Let alone an all-girls school in Japan!" The angry redhead that was Negi's childhood friend attempted vainly to calm herself down. "For all you know he could end up tainted by that Eastern Magic nonsense."_

_"Now now Anastasia, I have known countless powerful Eastern mages. In fact, the headmaster of the school Negi will be sent to is an old friend of mine." The Magus pulled at his beard slightly and scratched his chin, "Though it certainly is an odd place to send you Negi, especially regarding your talents."_

_Negi frowned as he reread his diploma. Turning it over in the vain hope that there was something else on its back, he sighed, "It shouldn't be much of a problem." He looked up to Anya and smiled slightly, "No need to worry about me."_

‡

Stepping off the crowded tram, Negi frowned and adjusted the tie on his newly bought green suit. Anya had said that it looked "dashing" but he had his doubts. He was quickly knocked aside by the sudden rush of the countless students that had been aboard the train. The students flooded off the train and out into the absolutely massive school. Regaining his balance, Negi looked out at the impossibly gigantic school-city that was Mahora. There were buildings as far as he could see, the most magnificent of which being quite a ways away. In the distance was a towering tree that dwarfed any other he had ever seen, surely it was the size of a small skyscraper. Thousands of people of varying ages were running, riding, and oddly enough, driving to their various classes.

Negi hurriedly moved away from the seemingly endless stream of people exiting the tram, and attempted to find some nook or cranny to temporarily hide in. Spotting what looked to be an alleyway-like area, he strode over to it as casually as possible and attempted to hide himself within its confines. Making sure no one could see him, he stuffed his hand into his pocket, and withdrew the long, white, and disheveled form of Chamo.

"What the heck do you want? I was enjoying my nap thank-you-very-much," the ermine said snidely.

"I'm making sure that you remember what I told you to do today," Negi said, "Now refresh my memory."

The ermine let out an exasperated sigh, "Stay in your pocket during class and remain quiet. The usual when we're in mundane public. I have this memorized man, you don't have to remind me every time."

"Better safe than sorry. I'm not too keen in joining you in ermine-hood." Negi said, reciting the excuse he had used every time his friend had asked the question. He then replaced Chamo in his pocket, this time a fair bit more gently.

Negi promptly turned around to exit the alleyway-like area.

There was a girl standing at the exit staring at him inquisitively. "Were you talking to yourself or what?" She was of fairly average height for a Japanese schoolgirl. Her hair was short and black. It fell only to her jaw line, and her bangs hovered over her eyebrows. She wore what would have to be the uniform of her age group. It consisted of a burgundy blazer and blouse, with a white shirt and red tie underneath. She also wore a red pleated skirt with nearly knee length socks.

"One could say that." At her odd look, he elaborated, " I was simply verbalizing my mental checklist. To help make sure that I had not forgotten anything."

The girl quirked an eyebrow. "That seems legitimate, but why do it in here?" She said after a slight pause, indicating to the area they were standing in.

"I believe it is less odd to talk to oneself away from others, unless of course the customs of talking to yourself are different in Japan."

She shrugged in what looked to be feigned nonchalance, and then there was an awkward silence.

The girl looked around nervously, "Well, you need any help before I get to class? I'm ahead of schedule for a change." She seemed to notice the obvious fact that he was new to the school. Given his European features and unsure air, this was not a hard task.

"As a matter of fact, I would!" He said, thanks evident in his voice, "I need to locate the dean of Mahora Academy's office. I think I'd be able to find it on my own, but a bit of help never hurts."

She beckoned for him to follow her as she exited the alley and once again entered the sprawling courtyard-like area, which was now filled with an even greater amount of students. More and more people flooded into the area as they walked. Negi had a hard time believing that a school could possibly have this many students, but the universe seemed adamant in its attempt at proving him wrong.

Negi had some trouble following her through the masses of students**. **The girl had no outstanding physical features that set her apart from the multitudes of other Japanese schoolgirls that were running into him on their ways to class nigh constantly.

They eventually arrived at the entryway to the Girl's Academy. Negi wondered how these people could make such a journey every morning, even he was feeling the walk slightly. He decided to voice his concerns. "How can you make such a commute every day? It's a bit… strenuous."

"I guess you get used to it," She said casually, "I mean, when I first started in Junior High, it was like a genuine living hell getting here every morning. But like I said, you just end up getting used to it." She beckoned for him to follow her again, and then continued to talk, "How about you? What's up with those tattoos?" She said, gesturing towards his face.

Negi focused on the tattoos that adorned his face, two were engraved on the skin above and below each of his eyes, and another one below his mouth, "One could say that they're ceremonial," Negi said, not divulging any more details.

"What d'you say then?"

The tattoos had a significance far outside the realm of things Magi were allowed to speak of to mundanes , and as such, he had to avoid a true answer, "Nothing."

She accepted the non-answer indignantly, but continued to guide him through the sprawling halls that made up the interior of Mahora Academy. The halls were filled with countless classrooms, and students were constantly entering the various rooms. He never ceased to silently marvel at the sheer size of the Academy, as it was merely one part of the gargantuan Mahora "city".

She turned back to him as she led him through the halls, "Questions number two then! What're ya doing here?" She seemed genuinely curious

Negi contemplated whether or not it would be safe to tell her. Considering the massive amount of students here, he'd probably never run into her again, and thus it was safe. Though that was probably a bit of Chamo's personality bleeding over to him.

"As odd as it may sound, I'll be teaching English here soon."

The girl laughed incredulously and turned away from him, "Is that how you got your tattoos then Some sort of bizarre teaching ritual?"

"Not quite." He said, smiling.

‡

The girl eventually stopped at an unassuming door that seemed to be just like the hundreds of others they had passed during their trek. "Well here we are," she said.

"Thank you," Negi replied.

"I never did get your name though…" She said, the question obvious.

He gave a slight bow, and, adopting the Japanese custom of naming, said, "Springfield Negi."

"Well I'm Kugimiya Madoka, nice to meet you. Maybe I'll be seeing you around?" The newly named Madoka asked.

"Perhaps."

"I've got to meet some friends in class, so I'll see you later Negi-sensei!" She said jokingly, and then went on her merry way.

So far, his stay in Mahora had been nice, and hopefully it would remain so. Turning to the door, Negi analyzed it. Had he been alone, it may have taken him a fair bit of time to find the room on his own. It had no special emblems or designs on its surface. Negi checked his watch, he had fifteen minutes to talk to the dean and get to his class. It wouldn't be a problem.

He opened the door, and residing within the room were two people.

One was an old man with a strangely elongated head, wearing an odd robe and sitting behind a desk. The other was a girl that looked to be the age of Madoka: a year or two younger than himself. She was fairly pretty, with long brown hair that fell nearly to her waist and chocolate eyes that matched her hair. She wore the same outfit that Madoka had worn. She had been talking as he entered.

"We couldn't find him grandfather," the girl said, "We looked everywhere!"

The aged man, who would have to be the dean, looked as if he was going to reply to the girl, but had noticed Negi entering the room. The man raised his hand to his granddaughter to quiet, and then turned to Negi, "And you are?" The man said, directing the girl's attention to him as well.

Negi stepped forward, closer to the middle of the headmaster's office and bowed to the other occupants of the room, "I am Negi Springfield." He opted to go with the western tradition of family name last this time.

"Ah, it seems we have found you after all. Your headmaster has told me much about you." The dean stepped up from his desk and walked to the front of it, "It is a great pleasure to meet you. I am the dean of Mahora Academy, Konoe Konoemon, as you should know." He slightly inclined his head, obviously his own version of a bow. Then, gesturing to the girl, he said, "And this is my granddaughter, Konoka."

The newly named Konoka bowed graciously. She looked as if she was going to say something afterwards, but her grandfather continued.

"As you should be aware, you have been sent here to teach in one of our classrooms. You have been assigned as the homeroom and English teacher of class 2-A. Konoka is a member of this class."

Looking to Konoka, Negi could clearly see her shock.

Then, with a half-joking, half-serious glint in his eyes, Konoe continued, "By the way Negi-kun, she _is_ available. What do you say?"

Not expecting such a question from the dean of such a prestigious school, let alone from a grandfather, it took Negi a fair few seconds to give an answer. "Well, she seems to be a fine girl," Konoka's face began to redden, "But I am not quite looking for a partner at this time." His eyes trailed to Konoka again, and she turned away from him, attempting and failing to hide her embarrassment.

The dean smiled, knowing he had ruffled Negi's feathers a bit, he returned to his more business-like tone," This job will no doubt be difficult, especially for one so young, so I'll be instilling a "trial period", if you will. It will end in March, and depending on how you have done, you may or may not pass. If you do not pass, then your training is at an end. Am I clear?"

"Crystal, sir," Negi responded, understanding the implications.

The dean raised his right index finger, "One more thing, you will be rooming with a pair of students from within your class. I had originally intended to have you with Konoka and her roommate, but have since decided against it."

"Are you sure such a thing is appropriate? There aren't any other rooms available?"

"I am quite sure it is appropriate! I fancy myself a good judge of character, and I don't believe anything… unfortunate will occur. And no, there are no other rooms currently available, unless you would like to room with a different group of girls." The dean then turned around and grabbed something off his desk, he then handed it to Negi. It was a small, hard-backed book. "That is your class roster, the previous teacher of the class has some notes written in there for you I believe. Konoka will be taking you to your class, now off with you!" He said, making a shooing gesture with his hands.

Negi opened the door, as he was closer, and looked to the girl, "Ladies first." Konoka giggled lightly, and proceeded to leave the room. Negi turned back to the dean, locked eyes with him for but a second, nodded, and then followed the girl outside.

‡

Konoka had obediently led him to the classroom. She had attempted to ask a few questions, but he waved them off, telling her to save them for later. They both stood outside the class, and he beckoned to her, "Again, ladies first. I'll be entering in a few moments."

She obliged, and entered the room. The girls within were extremely loud, as he was capable of hearing them from outside.

Wanting to prepare himself, he opened up the class roster the dean had given him. Within were thirty-one pictures, with a name and list of activities they participated in for each. This _could _possibly be a problem. He had spent six years communicating almost solely with an ermine, and would now have to interact with thirty-one schoolgirls. This was a bit of a jarring change if you asked him.

Chamo, possibly sensing he had been thought about, burst from the confines of Negi's pocket, and climbed his way up his body to perch on his shoulder. "Holy crap bro. That's a lot of girls. If you won't be having any fun, I sure as hell will be." The ermine let loose a perverted grin and snicker, then quickly descended back into the pocket that was his resting place.

Negi scowled slightly and shut the book. Steeling himself, he held the book in his left hand and opened the door, entering the classroom.

The class had immediately quieted upon his entrance. Instantly noticing that something was off, he took a quick step to his left. He heard something collide with the ground on his right, and he lowered his gaze down to it. It was a chalkboard eraser.

He turned to the class and scowled.

Negi then brought his heel down hard in front of himself. A very thin rope, which had obviously been laid to trip him, snapped.

He took another step forward, and then quickly sidestepped. A bucket smashed into the floor just where he had stood.

A slight clicking alerted him to the presence of yet another trap and he tilted his head aside. Several suction-cup tipped arrows shot past his face and stuck to the wall opposite him.

Negi then walked to the front side of his own desk, and turned towards the class. They were silent.

An exceedingly petite girl with very light red, almost _pink_, hair styled into two ponytails stood up and shouted at him in a high pitched whine, "How'd you dodge all of our traps!

"Practice."

Another girl stepped forward. She was only a few inches shorter than Negi himself (rather tall for a schoolgirl) and possessed blonde hair that stretched halfway down her entire body. "Who are you?" She asked.

He decided to not draw out the suspense, as he was not a fan of theatrics in situations such as this, "I am Negi Springfield," he said, gesturing to himself, "And as of today, I am your new homeroom and English teacher." Not giving them a chance to do anything in reply, he continued, "Now if you would all please get in your assigned seats so I could take roll, we could get started."

They all reluctantly took their seats, but their excitement and shock was obvious, most were whispering to each other. He himself took a seat behind his own desk, and rested his hands on its wooden top. He quickly scanned the room, and several met his gaze for one reason or another. Coincidentally, the girl he had met earlier, Madoka, was a member of his class. She seemed a bit shocked.

Breaking the silence, he carried on with his introduction, "As I said previously, I am Negi Springfield. I am sixteen. I was born and spent much of my life in Wales. I should only be teaching these classes for a few terms. Now, I understand that most of you would find it odd that I am a teacher, so I am allowing you to ask a few questions. Please state your name, and then ask your question. I'd like to get to know you all a little better, and knowing your names will certainly speed the process."

The class erupted into hushed whispers and giggles. Negi wasn't entirely sure why.

The blonde girl from earlier quickly raised her hand, silencing the whispers, "Hello sensei, I am Yukihiro Ayaka, and I am the class representative of 2-A." She paused for a moment, seemingly to let it sink in, but then continued, "How exactly is it that someone as young as you is teaching this class?"

"I can't tell you, and the dean can't either. But rest assured, I am more than capable of teaching all of you."

She looked displeased with the former portion of his answer, but did not press the issue and nodded her head respectfully.

A spectacled girl with long brown hair and a pair of cowlicks atop her head raised her hand next, and waved it about enthusiastically to get his attention, "Saotome Haruna's the name! How'd you get those awesome looking tattoos? They look like they're right out of some manga," She asked eagerly.

Once again dodging the question, Negi replied, "It's a long story."

"We have lots of time!" She insisted, obviously eager to know the truth.

"I'm afraid not," he continued, dismissing her.

She too seemed displeased with his nonanswer, but still eyed him like he was a delicious meal. This disturbed him in manners he wasn't entirely sure of.

Another brunette raised her hand immediately afterward. Her hair was shoulder length, with some of it pulled into a ponytail on one side. "Akashi Yūna!" She paused for a second and looked to her peers, who giggled slightly, "Are you available?" She asked saucily.

Taken off guard by the question, he nearly fell out of his seat. Only his quick reflexes saved him from looking like a complete idiot. It took him a few moments to reply, "Well, yes." The class cheered as a collective, and he quickly followed it up with, "But I'm not looking for a girlfriend at the moment, and it's not exactly in my schedule!"

They quieted down, but he could hear their whispers. They were all conspiring. This could pose a problem.

Attempting to compose himself, he shuffled a few papers that lay on the desktop and reigned the class in, "That's enough questions for now. We need to get on to the actual lesson for the day." He said hurriedly, not wanting to fall into another question such as that one. He looked to his stack of papers and saw that a lesson plan had been prepared for him. He checked what it had to say, grabbed a piece of chalk, and moved to the chalkboard.

"If you would please turn to page one hundred and twenty-eight." Negi said, writing the page number on the blackboard, "I'd like to get some actual teaching done."

They were all staring at him, and were most definitely _not_ in a learning mood.

‡

The rest of the class period had passed without significant incident, though many of the students had quickly devolved into the loud and rowdy class they had been before he'd entered. Only now there was an almost constant barrage of cat calls and wolf whistles. He intended to simply take those as compliments.

Upon the ending of his class periods, Negi grabbed what few things he had brought with him and swiftly exited the classroom, not being in the mood for any bizarre questions. Almost immediately after leaving the doorway he nearly ran into a large figure.

His eyes widened.

It was a man he hadn't seen in many years.

"Takamichi! What are you doing here?" Negi said, some happiness evident in his voice.

"Well that's good, I'd been thinking that you possibly wouldn't remember me," The man said, scratching the back of his head.

Takamichi T. Takahata was a very tall man. He wore a beige suit, and had light brown hair that already seemed to be graying, despite him being only in his early thirties. at the oldest And in spite of his name, he looked more Caucasian than Japanese. His chin and jaw line were covered in stubble that he had a bad habit of scratching at. "I've worked here for many years now. In fact, you're taking over some of my classes."

Slightly shocked, but happy, Negi replied, "The headmaster didn't tell me anything about you being here! But it's definitely a pleasant surprise seeing you here." They began to walk down the hall, leaving behind them a few stunned students.

Takamichi lowered his voice a bit, "When I'd heard what happened six years ago, I was surprised, even more so when I heard that you'd up and left Meridiana. What were you doing that whole time anyway?"

"Simple mercenary work. They told me to do something, I did it, and I got paid. Though I was never really in it for the money." Negi laughed sheepishly. "It generally wasn't any trouble and I think it was much more beneficial to my growth as a mage than book learning would've been. And don't worry, the Magus okay'd the whole deal."

"I'm glad to know that the little Negi I used to know has grown up a bit!" Takamichi smirked though he seemed slightly astounded at Negi's former occupation, "I'm going to have to challenge you to a duel one of these days, just to see how strong you've gotten. I don't think it'll be like when you were a kid," he laughed, "You and your little practice wand…"

Negi too smiled in remembrance of the mock duels they once had in the village of his youth.

"Anyway, I put a pretty good amount of advice in that roster of yours, but if you need anything else, just come find me. I've got to go for now, but I have a feeling we'll be seeing each other again later today."

The older man patted him on the back (with more force than necessary in Negi's opinion) and strode down the hall. Negi took a different path, aiming for the exit.

‡

A little while later, Negi was sitting atop a series of steps that surrounded a magnificent statue and water fountain. Though the statue itself was brilliantly and artistically made, seeming to be hundreds of years old, it was not what held his attention. Instead his focus was on the class roster that had been given to him by the dean.

Negi was attempting to commit the names and faces to memory. This was not particularly hard, as he had previously spent long hours memorizing incantations far more complicated than the names of a bunch of girls. Despite this, a few of the names struck him as obviously out of the ordinary for Japan, and he filed that information away for later. His mind wandered slightly and he remembered back to earlier in the day, the dean never did tell him what room he'd be staying in.

A bit of movement in the distance caught his eye, and he quickly looked up to it.

Descending a grand flight of steps was a student. Actually, it was one of his students! She was a rather slight girl, with dark hair (that was tinted an almost _purple_ color) styled in such a way that much of her face was shielded from outside view, but left two long bunches on either side of her head.

He looked down at the roster in his hands for confirmation. 'Miyazaki Nodoka, eh.'

She was walking down very slowly, and in her arms was a preposterously large stack of books. The girl looked to be on fairly unsteady footing, and far too close to the edge of the staircase. He stood up in precaution of an accident, and sure enough, she tilted precariously to one side and lost her footing. She let out a high-pitched scream, and the books went flying.

Quickly coming to the conclusion that she was too far away to run to, he deemed that magic was necessary for occurrences such as this. Instinct kicked in, and he summoned a small piece of magic power to his will. A mental twist forced it into a spell that had long ago become second nature to him. His body was instantly covered in an inky substance, and he slipped into the ground beneath his feet.

This was Shadowgate. A teleportation spell.

With a small explosion of shadow, his body erupted from the stone walkway where the girl would fall. He kneeled and put out his arms, and soon enough, he felt the girl fall into his arms. She was remarkably light. But it was to be expected, as she was rather petite compared to some of the other girls in the class.

Nodoka opened her eyes blearily and looked upon her savior, who smiled to her slightly in return. He would have helped her to her feet and get her bearings, but, looking up, he saw that there was something else that required his attention. Something a bit more important to him and his plans.

Namely the fact that Konoka Konoe stood but a few meters away from him, staring at him with wide eyes and an open mouth.

It figured that he wouldn't even have been at the school for a day before someone found out about his magic.

He quickly browsed his mental incantation libraries, and then lifted his right hand at Konoka (his left still holding Nodoka). He wouldn't need his activation key for a spell as minor as this, 'Obscurum Silentium Unus.' He thought, and a black strip of unidentifiable material covered Konoka's mouth before she could scream. He then quickly, but gently, laid the still thoroughly dazed Nodoka on the ground, and drew upon his magic once again.

He sank into the ground and reappeared in front of Konoka as she had turned and begun to run. He reached out and grabbed hold of the jacket she wore over her uniform. He then sank back into the ground, now with the girl in tow, and reappeared in a grove of trees not far from where they had just been.

As they rose above the ground, the girl fell to the ground, and he looked down at her. He then grabbed her by her jacket yet again and pressed her against a nearby tree, "Obscurum Redimio Telum." A material much like that covering her mouth now bound her torso to the tree behind her.

Formulating a plan of action within seconds, he initiated it, "I am a mage," He said simply, "All those stories and movies you watched as a kid were correct, magic exists. And it is far better for you and your future if you would just forget that this whole thing ever happened." He paused, "However, I believe such an occurrence to be unlikely. And as such, I'll be forgetting this for you."

Man, that didn't come out sounding particularly nice.

"Don't worry, it won't hurt."

He really hated to sound like the bad guy, but it _was_ at least partially for her own good.

Negi placed the palm of his hand against her forehead, and drew up a fair bit of magical energy. He distributed it equally over his palm and let it seep into her forehead, "Oblivio." He incanted.

Instantly, her eyes became blank, and he dispelled the strips of darkness that held her to the tree and kept her silent. He caught her in his arms when she fell, and then he waited.

It was but a few moments before her eyes focused again, and her breathing went back to normal. She looked up at him hazily, "Uh, what happened?"

"I'm not sure. I heard you scream out here, and I rushed over and found you on the ground." He lied smoothly. He slowly helped her get to her feet, and then put his hand on her shoulder, to make sure that she was more than steady enough on her feet.

Konoka giggled, her face reddening, "I guess I must've tripped over something, though I'm not usually such a klutz." A silence fell between them.

Negi was particularly glad that his spell hadn't malfunctioned.

The girl's eyes trailed up to his face for a few seconds, and then she gasped suddenly.

He quirked an eyebrow, "Something wrong?"

"I… uh… need to go pick up some stuff ay my dorm room and take it to class! It's for a project, and I need some help carrying it all, but Asuna's busy." Her words had sort of blended together, and she was obviously nervous, so something was certainly not right.

Brushing aside a stray concern that his spell hadn't worked, he replied, "Well, I'd be willing to help. I need to speak with your grandfather again soon anyway."

He prepped himself to walk leisurely back to wherever the dorms were located, but Konoka swiftly grabbed hold of his hand and took off running, nearly tripping him and forcing him to run with her.

‡

After a quick trip to an entirely separate building that housed the Jr. High School girls' dormitories (thoughts of Mahora's size again amazed Negi), Negi was loaded up with several plastic grocery bags worth of assorted cups and plates. She didn't let him inside the room for some reason, but he wasn't going to complain. After all, a teacher wanting to get into a student's room was more than a bit creepy.

He was then led through the winding halls of Mahora Academy yet again, thankfully not running this time, because he wasn't particularly used to it anymore and he didn't want to break any of Konoka's things. Negi soon found himself at the entrance to the room of class 2-A with Konoka at his side, though it was still a fairly lengthy walk.

He looked to his companion, and she beckoned to the door nervously. Odd, but he obliged.

Opening the door to the classroom, Negi was not entirely prepared for what lay behind it.

"Welcome Negi-Sensei!" Was the deafening shout that met his ears. Confetti was thrown, horns blown, and what appeared to be champagne was popped by some of the more unsavory girls. Had Negi not possessed the self control that he did, he may have accidentally thrown a few spells around.

(Surprises usually meant bodily harm in his line of work)

Pulling himself together, he noticed that Takamichi was waving at him from the back of the room, sipping something from a red plastic cup, and he was sure he saw the deformed head of the dean in the crowd somewhere. He turned to Konoka with a raised eyebrow, "I guess I know what project all this is for now."

She gave him a quick hug, to the chagrin of many in the crowd, "Thanks Negi-sensei," she said earnestly.

Slightly shocked at the contact (but determined to not let it show) Negi entered the room, placed the bags on a nearby table, and gave them all a mock bow, "What exactly is the occasion for all this? I don't think it's my birthday."

The class representative, Ayaka, he believed her name was, stepped forward. "I believe that our new teacher deserves a proper welcome, especially after a few among us thought it prudent to try and prank you." She directed a glare to the back of the room. "Please, enjoy the refreshments, and feel free to request assistance from me. After all, I am the class representative," the blonde said, returning her gaze to him.

Negi thanked her and found a nearby lunch table that had been brought in to sit down on. He grabbed a cup of something or other, but had only a few seconds to drink it before being interrupted by one of the students.

It was the Miyazaki girl. She looked remarkably well for a girl that had only barely escaped broken bones.

"Nodoka Miyazaki, if my memory serves," he said, taking another sip from his drink.

The shy girl nodded and seemed to brighten up significantly. He couldn't be absolutely sure though, as her hair covered up most of her face.

She bowed her head to him now, "Um… Negi-sensei…. About that incident earlier…" She thrust her arms out, a piece of paper held tightly in her hands, "I would've broken my neck if it weren't for you, so please accept this certificate as a token of my gratitude!" She said the last part so quickly that the words were jumbled together, and he almost didn't catch it.

Negi smiled, and accepted the certificate from her, which turned out to be a coupon to a bookstore. He wasn't sure if he'd ever need one, but the thought of it was... warming, "Thank you Nodoka-san, I am in your debt." He said politely, placing the certificate inside one of his many pockets.

She gasped and shook her head vehemently, "B-b-but you saved my life, I should owe you more than that!"

"Of course not, I would never let something bad happen to my students." He then decided to channel a bit of Chamo, "Especially to one as pretty and polite as you."

Following his compliment, the other girls gasped as a collective, and silence reigned for a period of time slightly longer than he was comfortable. A few girls let out wolf-whistles. What little he could see of Nodoka's face was bright scarlet. He didn't get to see it for long, as she almost immediately keeled forward. Negi's quick reflexes kicked in, and he caught her in his arms once again.

One of the girls who had asked him a question earlier in the day stepped forward (Haruna he believed) and gathered up Nodoka from his arms, "Don't worry Negi-sensei, we'll take her off your hands… this time!" She then proceeded to walk away, laughing semi-maniacally with Nodoka in tow. The other girls quickly resumed conversation, and he was not sure whether he wanted to know what they were discussing.

As Negi refocused his attention on his drink, the door quietly opened, and another of his students entered. She was fairly pale, with long black hair partially tied tightly to one side of her head. She kept a long, wrapped up bundle in one hand. 'Sakurazaki Setsuna.' He thought, recalling her name and nursing his drink.

‡

Takamichi eventually joined Negi at his side, both drinking punch that was presumably spiked with something or other. "Did you help set up this whole affair?" Negi asked.

The older man grinned in return, "Right after we parted ways in the halls I started helping out the girls. I helped bring in tables, food: the works. Everyone was in on it except for you, obviously."

"So is there anything big I should be expecting with this class?" Negi asked, "They already seem like trouble to me."

Takamichi laughed, "Well, they're certainly rowdy. And there _are_ a few wild cards in there, but I'll let you find who those are on your own." Negi scowled jokingly. "Just try and assert your authority and everything should be fine." He paused for a second and scratched his stubble, "Of course, I'm not a teenage boy, so it might be a bit different for you."

Negi too shared his concerns.

They sat and sipped at their drinks in peace for a few minutes, before the girl from the beginning of the day showed up in front of them.

"Hello Madoka-san," Negi said, "I do believe we will be seeing more of each other."

The girl smiled, "I guess so, though I never thought you were serious about the whole 'teacher' thing. I figured you were just a mysterious transfer student or something," She laughed nervously, but quickly stopped, "Not to be annoying or anything, but can you answer my question now? I can keep it confidential!" She said, quickly changing the subject.

"No." He replied, a smirk tugging at his lips.

Madoka huffed, "Well why not?"

Negi flicked at the tattoo underneath his left eye, "Because these are personal. They have a story that's mine to tell."

She "accepted" his answer, and left his table, returning to her group of friends and no doubt relaying her failure at getting the story out of him.

"So that was about your tattoos I take it?" Takamichi now turned to him, "How about me? Do I get to know?"

"That's another story for another time my friend."

"Damn." His old friend lamented, and they shared a laugh.

‡

The welcoming party continued without much incident. A red-headed girl had stopped by and asked why Takamichi had to leave, but he dismissed her worries, saying that Negi would be a fine replacement.

Negi also received a few "housewarming" gifts from the girls, which was certainly nice. A select few of the students attempted to pry some information out of him about his past and credentials. This wasn't as nice, and they received much the same answer he had given to Madoka.

Over the course of the party he felt several gazes upon him, but shook off any suspicions of malcontent. He was the focus of the party, of course people would be staring at him. Besides, he didn't need to be quite so paranoid anymore.

Suddenly, the dean called everyone's attention to himself, interrupting Negi's thoughts, "Settle down everyone, I have a bit of an announcement to make." He paused until everyone had quieted down, "Now as I'm sure all of you are aware, the housing situation in our precious Mahora is a bit dire. As you may notice every morning, our school is a tiny bit crowded." This provoked some laughter from the class, "As such, Negi-kun does not have a room of his own to reside in. Because of this, I came to the decision that Negi would room with a few of you, his students." Immediately, several hands shot up, offering their rooms. He dismissed them, and then continued on, "I have already decided with whom he will be sharing rooms."

Negi wasn't sure why exactly the dean decided to make a spectacle of his rooming, but listened on nonetheless.

"He will be staying with Kasuga Misora and Sakurazaki Setsuna." He searched the crowd for the two of them and continued, "I trust that you have no problems with this?" The dean said to the girls whom he had chosen. The class's attention was directed to them as well.

Misora was a girl of average stature, with short, boyish red hair. She seemed to have no objections with the dean's decision, only a degree of shock.

The Sakurazaki girl however, seemed more than a fair bit shocked. Her eyes were wide, her mouth was open, and her hands were tightly gripping the bundle she carried.

Negi wasn't quite sure whether it was the principle of living with a boy that bothered her, or if it was some other, unknown reason. Either way, he apologized inwardly.

Neither girl voiced any objections (though it looked as if Setsuna would have had she been able to overcome her shock). "With Negi's housing arrangements settled, I would like to ask that everyone helps tidy up, and that you all get to your dorms. I'm sure that you all have some homework to do." Following the orders, the girls began to throw away much of the garbage, and clean up any messes that had been made.

"Mind helping me with the tables?" Takamichi asked, no doubt figuring that another able bodied male would be of a bit more help with the large lunch tables.

"Not at all," Negi replied.

‡

Finishing moving all the tables took a fair bit more time than he had expected it would, and would have been far easier with magic, but they had to make do.

Within half an hour, the room looked about as good as it had been earlier in the day, and many of the girls began leaving for their dorms, saying their goodbyes to Negi as they left. Haruna and Konoka were particularly enthusiastic.

Takamichi too returned to wherever it was that he resided, assuring Negi that if he needed anything, he'd be around, and to check the roster.

Wishing to leave for his room, Negi quickly found one of his roommates. "Misora-san, correct?" He said.

"Yep, that's me," She said, scratching the back of her head, "It seems like Setsuna-chan's gone on without us." She laughed sheepishly. "Do you have any suitcases with you?"

Negi shook his head, "Not at the moment, the dean should have them moved to the room some time tonight."

She nodded and then exited the room , shouting goodbyes to a few friends. As he followed, she turned to him and said, "There are only two beds, so you're going to have to set up a futon or something."

"It's not a problem. I'm not unfamiliar with harsh sleeping conditions." He said nonchalantly.

"Well it won't exactly be harsh, just not as comfortable as a bed," Misora said, probably wondering what kind of sleeping conditions he had endured. "I'll give you the tour, if you could call it that, when we get there."

They continued their trek to the dorm in comfortable silence.

**AN:I am deeply ashamed with the amount of time it took me to update this story. I only started this chapter two days ago, which goes to show, that had I honestly tried, I could have updated countless times. I had planned to update a few times a month over the summer, but got caught up with other things (namely Zelda and Fallout 3).**

**I am well aware that we have no idea whom Setsuna rooms with in canon, so I took the liberty of choosing it myself. I do have a plan, so anything odd you may have read is probably there for a reason. I hope it doesn't take me nearly as much time to update again.**

**One last note: I am not mentioning the tattoos incessantly because they look cool, but because they do have some significance, and because I want this to be the thing that gets Madoka more invested in Negi (the quest to find out why he has the tattoos that is), as I've always liked her, but she gets little screen/pagetime.**

**Any feedback is welcome. Constructive criticism/praise is greatly appreciated.**

**UPDATE 5/2: There was a rather glaring case of left in Author's notes in there, that I only just saw, and it's kind of odd that no one pointed it out. It's fixed now though. I am hoping to have a new chapter up within the week. But, I have terrible priorities, so don't expect anything too soon.**


	6. IV: Dirty Bit

**AN: Thanks to my beta Anzer'ke for looking through this, fixing mistakes, and giving some kickass input.**

**Varietas**

**Chapter IV: Dirty Bit**

Negi and Misora arrived at the entrance to their dorm room within the hour. On the door was an emblem that had the names of the room's occupants etched into it (he would have to add his own name eventualy). As Negi moved to open the door, she cut him off. "Um, unless Setsuna did any cleaning while we were getting here, the room should still be fairly messy. Neither of us were expecting any visitors, let alone a new roommate, " She said, scratching the back of her head sheepishly, "So apologies in advance."

He nodded in reply, and then opened the door.

As she had said, the room was in a state of disarray. Clothes were strewn about, and books of varying subjects laid on any given surface. There was a TV on one of end of the room, what seemed to be the breakfast/dinner table sat in front of it (as there were various small foods such as toast and cereal sitting atop it). Nearby the TV was a small kitchen area (stove, refrigerator, and oven), thereby explaining where the food had appeared from. There was a bunk bed to one side of the room, but both the bunks lacked an occupant, and the room was empty.

"I guess she's not here," Misora said, eyebrows furrowed, "I would've thought she'd wanna be here to welcome you, but apparently not."

"Is she usually here after classes?"

"Well, some days she comes right back. Other days she's out in the sports area of the school practicing with that sword of hers. Some days she just disappears altogether!" She shrugged, "I think it's a bit late to be practicing, so she's either off to wherever else she goes, or in the bath area," Misora replied, puzzled, "Anyway, you can see most of the room just from where you're standing. There's a door to our bathroom next to the bunk bed. It only has a sink, toilet, and a cramped little shower. You can use it to change into something a bit more comfortable when your stuff gets here." As she talked, she picked up some of the clothes and threw them into a nearby hamper.

Following her lead, he picked up the various foods and put them back into the fridge or cupboard (depending on where they belonged). He then picked most of the books up and stacked them atop each other in a corner of the room. By the end of their short clean-up, the room looked quite a bit more presentable. She smiled and thanked him upon seeing that much of the mess was cleaned, "I guess we forgot how easy cleaning really is."

Misora sat at the table (as it was low and possessed no chairs), and then removed one of the books from the organized stack that Negi had created. She opened it to the page featuring the lesson he had taught earlier that day. She turned to him and, somewhat shyly, said, "What we did in class today didn't make much sense to me… It wouldn't be too much of a hassle if you could review it with me would it?"

He gave her what he hoped was a gentle smile, "Not at all, it is my job you know."

She thanked him profusely.

"So what part of it was hard for you?" He said, sitting down beside her.

‡

"Thanks again Negi-sensei, this could've seriously messed me up later on," Misora said.

Negi nodded and smiled, "Again, it's n-"

The door opened.

He turned to the source of the interruption, and there stood Setsuna Sakurazaki.

She placed the bundle -which he now knew to contain a sword- against the wall nearest the door and slipped off her shoes. She then turned to Negi and spoke solemnly, "I'm sorry that it has taken me this long to return Negi-sensei," She bowed deeply before him in apology, "but I thought it necessary to bathe before properly introducing myself. As you should know, I am Sakurazaki Setsuna."

Her excuse seemed somewhat odd in his opinion, but he accepted her introduction. It was entirely possible that it was just some particularly bizarre Japanese custom. "It is nice to meet you Setsuna-san. Misora-san and I took the liberty of tidying up the room a bit, as you may be able to tell." He shut the book they had been using, "We've just finished reviewing today's lesson. If you need any help, you're more than welcome to ask for it."

She shook her head and walked to the bottom bed and sat upon it, untying her hair, "Today's lesson didn't give me much trouble." Finishing with her hair, she placed the ties on a nearby nightstand. Let out, her hair was of medium length, seeming to stop at part way down her back.

Negi stood up and put the textbook back on the stack (hoping to force some better habits on the two of them in the process), before pursuing an avenue of conversation that had been on his mind, "Misora-san tells me that you practice swordsmanship! Now it may not look like it, but I'm into this kind of thing," he smiled brightly, "Is there a particular school you follow?"

"It's a fairly obscure branch of Japanese Kenjutsu, you've probably never heard of it," She replied, attempting to dismiss him.

Crossing his arms, Negi persisted, "I may not be a swordsman myself, but I _have_ met a fair few. Try me."

She scoffed lightly, "I am a practitioner of the Shinmei-ryū school. An ancient school that predates most, if not all, others in Japan."

"Ah yes," he replied sagely, "According to legend, the Shinmei-ryū style was first created to combat demons. That wouldn't happen to be true would it?" He asked, leaning in closer to her.

She seemed shocked that he possessed knowledge of the Shinmei-ryū, but quickly answered despite this, "Of course not, that's simply folklore that's been passed down through the generations!"

Negi, not willing to relent, opened his mouth to try and glean more information, but was interrupted once again, this time by a knock on the door.

Misora had been snacking on something while listening to their conversation and so jumped slightly at the knock, but called to the person nonetheless, "Come in!"

The door swung open, this time revealing the former homeroom teacher of 2-A. "I promise this is the last time I'll be popping in on you Negi," Takamichi said, correctly assuming that Negi had thought he'd seen the last of him for a while, "Anyway, I need you to come out here for a minute," he continued, beckoning.

Negi obliged and shut the door on his way out. "What is it now?" he asked, slightly annoyed at his seemingly constant interruptions.

"The dean saw that you didn't have any luggage on you, and knew you'd just use your magic to get it to you. So he sent me as a cover for you to summon it up," Takamichi said, scratching his stubble. That really was a bad habit of his.

"Thank the dean for me when you see him again." Negi raised his right arm, holding it parallel to the ground, and splayed his fingers. He drew upon his vast magical reserves, and forced a small bit of it to perform a spell that had become so second nature to him, it had not required an incantation for years.

A small pool of an inky black substance appeared on the ground.

He focused on what he wished to pull from the pool, and said, "Adeo Mihi." A massive suitcase and very long bundle rose from the substance, both of which Negi grabbed before they could fall. He then dismissed the pool with a flick of his wrist.

Takamichi eyed the bundle suspiciously (which was about as tall as he was), but chose not to question it, "So how's the rooming situation? Any trouble?"

Negi shook his head, "So far so good. Anyway, I need to take all this stuff inside, I'll contact you if I do ever get into any."

"I'll be around, the dean has me doing all sorts of odd tasks," Takamichi said, waving and turning to leave.

Reentering the room, he propped his bundle up next to Setsuna's, and dragged his suitcase into the room. Setsuna was staring at the bundle, and Misora the suitcase. He set his luggage to one side of the room, and sat back down at his spot by the table.

"How much stuff do you have inside that suitcase?" Misora asked curiously.

Going over his mental checklist, he replied, "Multiple suits, some casual clothing, and various keepsakes and memorabilia. I'll probably start unpacking tomorrow. For now though, I'd much rather do some relaxing." He stretched his arms out behind him and yawned.

Next was Setsuna's turn, "What do you have wrapped up over there?"

Deciding that it wouldn't hurt if they knew, he replied, "Well, in my younger days I was rather partial to quarterstaves and the like. As I aged, this preference evolved to pole-arms. Wrapped up in that bundle is what is professionally known as a glaive. I am highly proficient in its use," Negi said matter-of-factly, he then indicated towards it, "You can look it over if you want."

She swiftly got up from her bed and walked over to the parcel, definitely wanting to look it over. She picked it up but was fairly unwieldy with it, as it was quite a bit taller than she was. She carried it back to her spot on the bed (careful not to hit anyone), and removed the cloth that covered it. The pole of the glaive was ebony and about as tall as she was. On the bottom was a silver "cap", and the blade was nearly a third the size of the pole. There were two wing-like silver protrusions immediately before the blade, giving the glaive as a whole an almost heroic feel, as though it was meant for the character of a grand epic.

"I got it in either China or Russia, the exact place escapes me," he silently pondered the question a moment longer, "I traveled quite a bit, so everything's sort of meshed together," Negi continued.

Setsuna continued her examination of the glaive, "It's of fine workmanship. In fact, it's very similar to that of my nodachi," She said, feeling the flat of the blade. After a few more moments of examination, she expertly rewrapped it and set it back at its place beside her own weapon before returning to her bed.

Negi then shifted his gaze to Misora, "How about you? Setsuna has her sword, is there anything you do outside school?"

She had been enjoying listening to the other two occupants of the room, and so was caught off guard by his question, "W-Well, I do a lot of running in the track and field club, that's one thing." She paused, thinking. "I also do a lot of volunteer work for my church. Though they usually just end up making me do a bunch of random chores and stuff," she said, brandishing the crucifix that she wore around her neck. "That's about it, I think."

Negi smiled, "It's nice to know that you girls have things besides schoolwork to focus on." Utilizing the lull in his conversation, he thought forward to the next day.

He came to the painful realization that he would have to plan the next English lesson. And the next one. And so on. He would have to do this every day for the rest of the time he spent as teacher of 2-A. This was not something he was looking forward to.

He decided to put it off for a while longer, and continue his conversations.

‡

There was a slight noise.

Negi's eyes snapped open.

Keeping his breathing slow and quiet, he narrowed his eyes to slits. He quickly rolled to the side of his sleeping bag and looked to the source of the sound that woke him from his sleep, ready for anything.

It was Setsuna getting out of bed. Nothing to worry about.

She froze upon seeing Negi staring at her. She looked down at herself, and evidently saw that she was still in her pyjamas (which consisted of a tank top and a pair of shorts). She quickly covered herself with her arms and let out an unladylike squeak. It was still fairly dark, so he couldn't see a whole lot, and he didn't find being in one's pyjamas to be particularly embarrassing.

"Don't worry, I'm not trying to get an eyeful." He said softly, not wanting to wake up Misora.

He extricated himself from his sleeping bag, "You can even stare at me if it'll make us even." He was wearing his usual nightwear, a pair of sweat pants and a t-shirt, "Though it's not exactly flattering..." He began to roll up his sleeping bag, "Is there a reason that you're getting out of bed so early?"

She bowed, blushing, in apology, "It's simply that I am an early riser," She said, still thoroughly apologetic, "I didn't mean to wake you, and I generally don't wake Misora up for another hour or so."

Shaking his head, he replied, "It's no problem, I'm a light sleeper, and I'm used to getting up early." Feeling his stomach rumble, he asked, "Is there anything in particular you would like for breakfast? Because if not, I'm just going to make some eggs."

"O-oh no, that's fine," Setsuna said, seemingly shocked at his offer.

"Sunny side up?" He asked, finished putting away his sleeping bag.

She nodded in response, "I'm okay with that."

"Now go take a shower or whatever it is you girls do in the morning, I need some concentration," He replied, only half joking. "And I promise, I won't walk in on you or anything."

Setsuna blushed again, and began moving to the closet, presumably to get her uniform.

He turned his attention to the fridge and quickly strode over to it. As he threw its door open, he heard the bathroom door close at the back of the room. He grabbed the egg crate and brought it to the stove. Before he could begin looking for a frying pan, Chamo took the absence of the others as an opportunity to show himself. He erupted from the small pile of Negi's clothes that had been set next to his still packed suitcase.

The ermine jumped to the kitchen counter and snickered softly, "I never thought I'd be seeing you do something like this! The mighty Negi Springfield, cooking breakfast for some school girls!" He laughed again. "You didn't even bother telling the girls about me, I'm shocked that you care so little for me!"

Negi swatted him off, "It just slipped my mind, now get out of here. I'll tell them about you later."

Chamo nimbly returned to the countertop, and patted the egg crate, "What about me eh? Doesn't your old pal get anything to eat?"

Rolling his eyes, Negi replied, "You know how it works, you get the leftovers. You're about the size of my forearm, you don't need too much."

Feigning hurt, Chamo leapt to the floor, "You cut deep pal, I'm afraid I can't handle your presence much longer!" He said theatrically, clutching at his heart.

"Stay out of the panty drawers please," Negi replied, mostly ignoring his antics.

The ermine grinned and then quickly disappeared from his sight.

Turning his attention back to his cooking, he cracked his knuckles, hoping that his bare skill had not become _too_ rusty over the past few weeks worth of someone else's cooking. He grabbed a nearby apron that had been lying atop a chair (which was, as expected, pink), and put it on, only slightly embarrassed.

"Now where's that frying pan…"

‡

By the time he had finished frying several eggs, Misora had woken up and groggily gotten down from her bunk. She yawned loudly, "I don't usually get up this early, but the food lured me out," she said.

"I wasn't sure what you wanted, so I just made them all sunny side up. If you like them any other way, I'll do that tomorrow, or whenever I cook breakfast again." Negi said, turning to her.

She giggled at the sight of him in the apron, "That's fine, and I must say, you look quite good in pink sensei."

He shook off her teasing, and took off the apron. Negi placed a plate with the eggs atop them on the middle of the table. "I'm not really sure what you drink in Japan for breakfast, so I'm just gonna take some milk," He said, opening the fridge and removing the milk carton from it.

As he went about putting the various breakfast ware onto the table, Setsuna exited the bathroom, now dressed in her school uniform. She looked much the same as she had the previous day, only this time a bit more damp.

She sat down at the table, while Misora opened the room's front door and picked something up from the ground.

"Thank you Negi-sensei," Setsuna said as he finished placing what was required at the table.

Sitting down as well, he shook his head, "It's not a problem. I'm used to cooking for myself anyway. Cooking a bit more for a few others is nothing." Before either of them could continue the line of discussion, Misora returned to the table and sat between the two of them, laughing to herself. In her hands was what looked to be a newspaper, which she then showed to Setsuna, causing her to blush.

"May I ask what's causing these reactions?"

Misora stifled a laugh, "Oh it's nothing, just the headline to the school newspaper…" She handed him the paper.

Negi curiously glanced over it, and then immediately regretted it.

* * *

_Teenage Teacher Negi Springfield:_

_Hot or Not?_

_This Monday morning, it was revealed to the class of 2-A that the revered Professor Takahata would not be resuming his duties as their Homeroom and English teacher. We were all hurt by his departure (one student in particular), but what happened next eased the pain. The void in our hearts and classroom was to be filled by the sixteen year old Welshman Negi Springfield._

_How is it that this young man is already a teacher? Our sources were unable to find an answer, and neither he nor the dean obliged to give any information, but we continue to scour the internet for a lead. Springfield himself also refused to give any info on his past, despite prodding by many members of the class. He truly is an enigma!_

**A collage of photos lay between these two passages, most taken while he had been teaching the day's lesson, and others while he had been walking through the halls. One photo in particular was suspiciously zoomed in onto his backside.**

_Now, onto what I'm sure you are most interested in. Is this Negi Springfield a looker? Well, as these photos should show, definitely. He's tall, dark, has vibrant, luscious red hair, seems to be a hard worker, and looks absolutely fantastic in a suit. Throw into the mix his mysterious past, and you've got yourself a textbook example of what a girl wants. Now, is this seemingly perfect man available? _

_When one of our correspondents posed him the question, he replied with a firm, "Yes."_

_This has been Kazumi Asakura, go get 'em ladies!_

* * *

A part of him was flattered that there was such an interest in him. But the rest was somewhat bothered by his apparent status as an extremely eligible bachelor and that a horde of teenage girls now possessed several photos of him.

"They took my answer completely out of context!" He covered his face with his hands and sighed, "This Kazumi Asakura is a member of 2-A, correct?" He asked Misora.

She laughed, "Yup! She's one of the higher ranking members of the newspaper club. I guess she and the other members found you to be an interesting topic!"

"And this newspaper gets delivered all over the school?" Negi was slightly worried about how widespread knowledge of him would become.

"Mostly around the girls' middle and high school sections. Of course, it's delivered to others who ask for it too," After taking another bite of her eggs, Misora continued theatrically, "Pretty soon all of Mahora will know about Negi Springfield, the teenage teacher of 2-A!"

Negi had hoped to not become too well known, but it looked like those hopes were in vain. He was willing to bet that being pulled aside by strangers would become a common occurrence to him. He quickly ate what remained of his breakfast and dismissed himself to freshen up a bit and get changed in the bathroom.

He was quickly done with the use of some rudimentary spells, and changed into one of his many suits. Looking into the mirror, he realized it would have been more prudent to have used some magic to cover up his tattoos, but it was a bit too late now that everyone had seen them. He shook off his worries, and exited the small bathroom.

Seeing that Misora was still dressed in her pyjamas, he and Setsuna waited for her to get into the bathroom and change into her uniform before leaving. He grabbed his student roster, while Setsuna took her covered Nodachi and held it beside her as they stood outside.

Turning to her in an attempt to make some small talk, Negi asked, "Are there any troublemakers in the class I should know about?"

She nodded, and with arms crossed, said, "Fūka-san and Fumika-san are pranksters, while many of the others are quite rowdy. Misora helps the twins with their pranks every so often. Class rep typically keeps the class under control however."

He scribbled a few notes into his roster, and thanked her.

Misora was soon in her uniform, and, with what they needed in hand, they began walking to class as a group. The Mahora complex was quite large, and he still needed help to find his way through it.

Marveling at the size of it once again, Negi resolved himself to the fact that it would probably remain that way for quite a while.

‡

They had managed to arrive at the courtyard before the rush of students flooded it, and as such, were quite early to class. This was a trend he certainly wished to continue, fighting his way through a mob of teenage girls was not something he enjoyed.

Setsuna took her seat, while Misora chatted with a tall brunette (Akira Ōkōchi, if his memory served). Negi opted to sit behind his desk, and wait for the rest of his students to enter and for class to begin. His lesson plan consisted of almost entirely reading, so there wasn't much for him to lay out on his desk or prepare for.

Negi's relative tranquility was disturbed by Madoka. He raised an eyebrow as she approached, wondering what she could want. "Is there something I can help you with?" He asked.

"U-uh, yeah," She bowed her head, "I'm sorry for acting kind of annoying yesterday, I didn't mean to come off like that. I promise that I won't try and get anything out of you again." She sighed. "It's just that I don't really see people that look like you every day, so I was interested…"

Negi smiled slightly, "It's no problem. I predict that I'll be getting many more questions regarding myself and my past. You were just the first of many," he paused, "Keep your grades up, and I may just tell you one day." Of course he would never be able to tell her, but a little encouragement never hurt.

Madoka nodded, smiling, and quickly returned to her group.

'_Today is starting off well,'_he thought.

As he gazed over his class, testing his knowledge of who was who, Nodoka and two others entered the room. Haruna Saotome, and one he was not yet acquainted with. All three were carrying varying amounts of books. '_They must be the bookworms of the class.'_

"Nodoka-san!" He called, causing her to jump slightly, "I suggest you don't carry so many books, I don't want another situation like yesterday, I might not be there next time around."

She blushed, and clumsily placed her books on her desk, "I'm s-sorry Negi-sensei. I'll try to t-tone it down."

"It _is_ good to see someone with such an interest in reading though. I suggest you keep that up, it could serve quite useful."

Her blush deepened, "Th-thank you," She mumbled almost inaudibly.

Negi smiled. Nodoka and her group moved farther to the back of the class, discussing something with a degree of urgency. Turning his attention to his desk, he searched a few drawers for a gradebook in order to confirm his "suspicions". Finding it, he flipped to a page with an overall grade. As expected, Nodoka was very high ranking. Haruna was not much farther below. The third girl, however, was near the bottom, which he found to be odd.

He shut the book and placed it underneath his roster, and resumed his wait for class to begin.

‡

It was only seconds before the final bell would've rung that Konoka and her redhead roommate finally entered the class. The redhead seemed quite disheveled, and he suspected that their near lateness was her fault. They took their respective seats.

Negi glanced over the classroom, and then down to his roster. Everyone was here. As he was about to get up from his seat, Nodoka rose from hers.

"Rise!" She said, and the students stood up from their seats. "Bow!" The class bowed to him.

It took him a second to remember that it was one of Japan's many customs. He personally found it a bit weird. "Thank you Nodoka-san," He said, nodding in her direction, "Now, if you could all take out your books and pick up where we left off yesterday, on page one hundred and twenty nine." He picked up his own copy of the textbook from his desktop, "I am going to read a passage in English, and one of you is going to attempt to translate it for me."

Clearing his throat, he began, "_The fall of Jason the flower. Spring came. Jason the flower was born on a branch of a tall tree. Hundreds of flowers were born on the tree. They were all friends._" It certainly felt like an odd paragraph, but he guessed that's what it took to teach another language to someone.

"Now, any volunteers?" He asked, browsing the room for any raised hands. As expected, there were none. As seconds stretched to nearly a minute, he realized that he couldn't exactly teach a wall. Remembering the article from that morning, he looked to Kazumi Asakura, its author. She was a bit taller than many others in the class, and had bright red hair that was mostly tied into a ponytail. He opted to call on her, almost as revenge, "Kazumi-san, if you would please attempt to translate that for me?" He asked, with a hint of glee.

The redhead steeled her gaze, and he guessed that she knew exactly why he had chosen her. Clearing her throat, she gave her attempt, "Jason the flower fell. Spring came. Jason the flower was from a branch of a tree. Lots of flowers were from the tree. They all got along."

He was slightly shocked that she did quite so well, "It wasn't perfect, but you conveyed the message. Good job."

Kazumi smirked, setting her book down in triumph.

"Now, does anyone want to read ahead and then translate the next passage?"

Yet again there were no takers.

Negi browsed the class for someone that looked suitable. Near the back of the class, there was a student completely engrossed with something on her laptop, obviously not paying attention to anything he'd been saying. She too possessed long red hair mostly tied into a ponytail, but hers was more orange than red and her hair was much longer. A thick pair of glasses adorned her face. He glanced down to his roster to figure out her name, "Chisame-san, if you could read the next part for us please?"

She didn't notice him calling her.

Nodoka's short friend, who sat beside Chisame, nudged her in her side.

Chisame swiftly slammed her laptop shut and looked up to Negi, her eyes wide.

"The next part please?" Negi said.

"O-oh, um. What page is that on?" she asked nervously, adjusting her glasses. Her book was still closed.

"One hundred and twenty nine."

She tore through the book to find the page, and hurriedly read it off. It was some other nonsense regarding flowers and trees.

"Now translate it for me."

She let out a loud groan, and did what she was told. Her translation was nearly flawless. It was a bit of a shame that her listening skills were not.

"Thank you, now, for the next part…"

‡

At lunch that day, Negi opted to walk through the halls in an attempt to familiarize himself with the layout of the school. The school seemed to have been built in a needlessly complicated manner, as there were far too many halls and turns to be practical.

As he had expected, he was pointed at quite a bit by passing girls, and he was typically able to hear their hushed whispers about him. What he heard slightly disturbed him. Seeking to get away from people for a while, but still get some fresh air, he hurried up one of the numerous flights of stairs in an effort to find his way to the roof of the building.

In his rush, he didn't quite pay attention to his surroundings, and accidentally collided with someone halfway up the stairs. Whoever it was, they were carrying a large amount of books which went flying every which way. The girl fell to the ground but he had managed to remain on his feet.

"I'm quite sorry, I was preoccupied and not paying attention," he said, offering a hand to the downed girl. She accepted his offer and he pulled her to her feet. It was Nodoka's second friend.

She was extremely short, the top of her head not even reaching his chin. She had very long blue-black hair, with braids falling on either side of her face, and the back proceeding nearly to her feet in another pair of braids.

"I don't believe I've gotten your name yet…" he said as he began picking up the books he'd caused her to drop.

She bent over to help speed up the process, "Ayase Yue," she said in near monotone.

Quickly finishing picking the mess up, he handed the stack of books to her, "You girls really should carry less books," he admonished.

"I like to read."

"Well, I can definitely see that," he replied, "But shouldn't you be eating lunch with your friends?"

She quirked an eyebrow, "That's where I was going, and then you ran into me." Negi winced. "Shouldn't you be in the staffroom eating lunch with some teachers?"

'_It seems like she has a certain fondness for sarcasm._' He shook his head, "I was trying to get to the roof. You can only hear so many whispers before it gets to you. Do you know how to get up there?"

She looked at him oddly, "Yeah, just keep going up stairs, you'll get there eventually," she said, beginning to descend the stairs once again.

"Well… thanks?" He replied.

"No problem Negi-sensei."

She was certainly... different. But that could only be expected by someone who liked books so much, yet had terrible grades. He continued his trek up the stairs.

‡

Negi threw open the door that led to the roof, and breathed in the air. It was quite relaxing after a somewhat taxing day in class; it was fairly energy draining to be amidst as many hot blooded teenage girls for as long as he had to be. Taking a closer look at his surroundings, he realized that he was not alone, as there were two others at the far end. As he moved closer, he saw that both were students of his.

Both girls looked to him as he'd thrown the door open. One was about as short as Yue was, with very long blonde hair. She wore the standard uniform. The other was only a bit shorter than he was, with long, somehow green hair, and two long metal looking protrusions that sprouted from where her ears should be. Whereas most opted to forego the burgundy blazer, she wore it, as well as stockings that covered her entire leg, as opposed to the standard shin-high ones.

They were definitely a mismatched pair.

He walked to them, as it was one of his goals to at least get acquainted with all of his students. As he made his way to them, the short one turned away from him from her place sitting precariously atop a ledge, and the other bowed to him. "Master would like to inquire as to what you are doing here Professor Negi," said the green haired one, in monotone, in English.

Taken slightly aback, both by her bluntness, and the fact that she had spoken perfect English, he replied, "Well, I'd come up here to get some fresh air, but saw the two of you, and figured I'd get acquainted."

The taller one bowed again, "I am Chachamaru Karakuri, and this is my master Evangeline A.K. McDowell."

"Well, hello Chachamaru and Evangeline," Negi said, noting the fact that Evangeline was definitely not Japanese, both by her appearance and name. Chachamaru was certainly a visual enigma as well. "Not to sound prying, but is there a reason why your hair is, uh, green? And you have those, things, for ears?" He asked, somewhat lamely.

Chachamaru unfurled one of her of her stockings, revealing several joints and plates around her kneecap (and with her it was in the literal sense), "As you should be able to see, I am a highly advanced robot. I was created by the Mahora University Research and Engineering Team." She said, in the same monotone, as if it were the most normal thing in the world.

Negi's shock was quite evident. He may have been out of the loop in terms of mundane technologies, but he had had no idea that it had advanced to such a point that robots like this could be created! The last he remembered, this kind of thing only existed in the movies, "And you're completely intelligent and autonomous?"

"Correct professor. I am state of the art. Master aided in my creation, but I am afraid that I am unable to say in what manner," she said, indicating to Evangeline.

He scratched his chin and then turned to the blonde, "Is there a reason that you seem to be ignoring me?" He asked.

Chachamaru answered for her, "Master is," she paused, "sick."

Looking her up and down, Negi was able to tell that she was most definitely not sick. She simply didn't want to talk to him for some reason.

Not wanting the situation to grow awkward, he decided to leave the roof and return to the halls below, "Well, I think it's about time that I get going. If the two of you ever need help with anything, feel free to contact me. I'll be happy to help"

"Thank you professor, but I do not think that will be necessary. Goodbye." She bowed her head to him for the third time.

Negi turned away from them and began to walk away. And sure enough, he heard whispers from both girls behind him.

‡

Negi stared at the clock, and waited for school to end. He felt a sense of duty to at least stay in the staff room until the final bell rang, and was somewhat regretting his morals. He had long ago planned his next lesson, and as such, was quite bored. He thought back to earlier the previous night, to his discussions with his roommates. Setsuna had said that she was a practitioner of the Shinmei-ryū art of swordsmanship.

He knew for a fact that this was a demon-slaying art, having looked into it himself at one point during his travels.

How she possessed knowledge of it, let alone knew how to use it, was quite mystifying, because to his memory it was a fairly unknown school taught only to those who were aware of magic. Of course, this was not something he could simply ask Setsuna. Because if she turned out to be a normal person, he would have to wipe her memory clean of his question, something he was not particularly fond of doing; as there was an inherent danger in memory wiping.

And if she _was_ magical, well, that was an entirely different can of worms.

Besides, it was entirely possible that the art had been diluted over time, and now was taught to the mundane public as well. As he began attempting to dig deeper into this mystery, he felt a nudge on his shoulder. He shook his head to rid himself of his contemplative thoughts and turned to who had touched him. It was Takamichi.

"I get the feeling that I'm going to be seeing a lot of you," Negi said.

Takamichi laughed, "Yeah, I'm sorry about that. I don't mean to bug you."

Negi stood up from his seat and stretched, having been sitting down for at least an hour. He looked to the clock and realized that the final bell had rung while he was absorbed in his thoughts. "So, is there anything you need? Or were you just saying hello?" he asked.

The older teacher nodded, "It's something I forgot to inform you of yesterday. Y'see, once or twice a week I would host a sort of study session for the lowest scoring students of 2-A. I'd help them with anything they had questions on and then give them a few quizzes in an effort to help them improve." He scratched his stubble, "But of course, now that I'm not their teacher anymore, that privilege has fallen to you. There's one scheduled for today and it had completely slipped my mind until a few minutes ago."

"So I need to tend to that?"

Takamichi nodded.

"Who are the lowest scorers?"

"There are five that I required to attend, but if you feel any more should be there as well, feel free to add them in. The five are Kaede Nagase, Fei Ku, Makie Sasaki, Asuna Kagurazaka, and Yue Ayase," he replied.

Negi closed his eyes, "So it's the more active girls plus Yue?"

"More or less."

"Why _does _Yue have such poor grades in the first place?" Negi asked, curious, "She seems plenty smart enough to be among the top."

"She's just lazy, I'd tried to knock her out of her bad habits, but didn't have much luck. Maybe you'll succeed where I failed." Seeing that Negi was about to leave, Takamichi continued, "I have the quizzes right here for you, good luck!"

Negi grabbed the small stack of papers, "Thanks, now I fully expect this to be the last time I see you for a while," he said jokingly.

Takahata laughed again, "I wouldn't count on it."

Negi too laughed, and waved to his old friend, leaving the staff room for room 2-A once again.

‡

**A/N: Yeah, I know it's been a while. I'm gonna try to update more often (and I say this every time), but at least the distance between my two most recent updates is quite a bit less than it was last time.**

**For those of you wondering why Negi is quite a bit more chill and nice than he was in chapter two, he did experience quite a bit during his six years of solitude. And he did change over all that time. I plan to have all kinds of flashbacks so you guys get to see it.**

**It's quite a bit harder to introduce a bunch of characters in text than it is through drawings, and since I'm trying to write this in a way that non Negima fans can read it and follow along, there are going to be a whole lot more character introductions.**

**Any feedback is welcome. Constructive criticism/praise is greatly appreciated. I try to answer all questions, so go ahead and ask.**


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